The Rise
'The Rise' is a novella about Nephrame Haizu's childhood and his rise to power. The story is told in Nephrame's point of view, showing his progression from a mentally handicapped child to a superpowerful Aeodeon directly. It was written in 2008, but is still currently undergoing revisions. Plot The story opens with Zebulon eating breakfast peacefully when his older brother, Dennis, passes. Zebulon, seizing the opportunity to talk to the boy he idolizes, asks him if he can borrow his BB Gun. Dennis snaps back at Zeb saying that they aren't toys, and that no matter how hard he tries, Dennis will always be better than him. Dennis then leaves Zeb in silence, and when Zeb begins to cry, he begins resenting himself, thinking that Dennis was right. But then the thought occurs to him that the same blood runs in their veins, and that he was now going to live to prove Dennis wrong. Zeb then proceeded to head to the children's park, where he completed 10 one-armed push-ups. After doing so, he collapsed and stared over at the playground, where there were young children playing together, having a great time. A pair of brothers on the swings stuck out to Zeb, and he began to imagine that they were he and Dennis, but then a scream from the river behind him called him back to his senses. He sees a girl about his age drowning, and turns back toward the playground to call for help. When he does, no one takes him seriously because they knew he was mentally handicapped. He then realizes that it is he who must save the girl. So he dives into the freezing water (it is the middle of November) and manages to grab hold of her, but his joints begin to freeze up and he is left suspended in the water, giving up on life until an image of his brother insulting him comes into his mind and drives him to want to live. He manages to swim further, the left side of his body completely useless by now, when he once again begins to give up. With one final movement, he wills himself onto the bank of the river where he falls into a deathlike unconsciousness with the girl looking over him. He faintly wakes up in the hospital and hears a conversation among doctors, but he does not remember this when he wakes up once more, this time, in a dark room full of whirring machines and blinking lights. Even in the darkness he can see, and he struggles to figure out what's different about his vision until the reality hits him that he is seeing through the eye he lost years ago in result to Dennis pulling it from his skull using a fireplace poker. Shocked, Zebulon reaches up to feel the eye when the appearance of his arm shocks him--for it is now covered in metal. Panicking, Zebulon realizes that he is covered in working parts and he is seeing through a mechanical lens. In the midst of his despair, a figure enters the room and the light is turned on, leaving Zebulon near blinded. The man who had entered the room tells Zebulon his name is Dr. Rudolf Czevich. Thinking that Czevich is a physician and that they are in a hospital, Zebulon asks what happened, to which Czevich replies saying that Zebulon is an Aodeon named Nephrame Haizu, and that he has been created to fight for the doctor. Confused, Zebulon asks where his family is. Czevich replies saying that they were the ones who handed him over to become a victim of the robotics. Because of the betrayal, Zebulon grows furious and brutally kills the scientist, declaring from then on that his purpose is to make the world sorry for mistreating him, and kill Dennis and Sawyer, their father, all under the name of Nephrame. Nephrame massacres everyone at his elementary school who had ever looked down on him, resulting in his being wanted by the FBI. He manages to hide from them long enough to be found by the girl he had saved in the river, who tells him that her name is Lissette Bovio and that she will hide him. He eventually agrees to go with her to her house, where Dennis finds him days later. The two fight and, even though Nephrame feels that he has become more powerful than Dennis, Dennis comes off conquerer, leaving Nephrame unconscious, his human arm broken. Nephrame awakens to Lissette singing, and when comments saying the song is beautiful, Lissette reveals in saying she has feelings for Nephrame. Confused, he asks her what he is to do about this, because no one has ever showed affection or cared for him before. It is a sweet moment, leaving Nephrame wondering whether he is doing the right thing by killing and hating. She gives him a snowman keychain for his birthday, which is near Christmas, so Nephrame decides to risk going outside in order to buy Lissette a Christmas doll in return. He obtains the doll safely, but is knocked unconscious and taken into a warehouse, where he awakens to five sillhouettes standing in a doorway before it is shut and they are left in darkness again. Nephrame is terrified, when the lights come on and the people in the warehouse with him are revealed to be a blond boy about Nephrame's age (Saiza), a beautiful girl in a cloak and mask (Metsuya), another girl who resembled the blond boy (Teizu), a boy her age in a black cloak (Sirzeiya), and a young adult male, also in a black cloak (Ignaise). The blond boy reports that he recognizes seeing Nephrame in the newspaper, and that it is best to let them hide with him there. Confused, Nephrame questions him and finds that they are a group of homeless, living together for the sole purpose of having a makeshift family. Torn between these people who are so much like him and Lissette, he decides that the better choice for him would be to hide with this group. Eventually he comes to realize that two of the others, Saiza and Metsuya, are also Aeodeons like he is, and that Saiza and Teizu are the children of Dr. Rudolf Czevich. Eventually, Nephrame comes to build a strong bond with the group, and is open about his feelings of malice towards humanity. They all share similar thoughts, and are all thoroughly convinced to do something about it. They become increasingly criminal, showing their detest for the law, and end up splitting up for over a year. When they meet up again, Saiza reports that he has visited his father's lab and found a secret experiment that he had been developing. The experiment had been titled 'Dimensional Bomb', and Saiza had realized that it had been created to create a new world. Saiza, thinking that this would be just what his friends had been looking for, brings them the Dimensional Bomb. Nephrame realizes that Saiza is right, and that in using the Bomb, a new world would be created, in which they could govern the rules and make sure that no one becomes despicable. Heavy doubt, however, hung over the group as to whether it was legit. None of them fully believed that the Dimensional Bomb would actually work, and all decided to investigate further. They receive a threat from someone known only as 'Kallice', saying that he knows what they are planning, and that he is going to turn them into the law immediately. Realizing their time is running out, they use the Dimensional Bomb without much preparation and, though it miraculously works, some of the group is left with unusual mutant-like abilities, and memoryless versions of the people of the city accompany them. The city is in utter chaos, no one knowing who they are and why they are there. Nephrame calms the confused people, telling them that he is their God and in following him, they will find solace. The people, easily convinced, begin to cheer, and Nephrame makes an offhand statement to his group that they are the chosen ones. The group was known forever after as 'the Chosen'. ] Nephrame realizes that Lissette is gone forever and makes himself accept this. The story ends with Dennis Arkwright glaring at Nephrame, and Nephrame's realization that Dennis is the one named Kallice. The look in Kallice's eyes suggests 'this is not over.' Characters Zebulon Arkwright/Nephrame Haizu - Protagonist Lissette Bovio - Love interest Dennis Arkwright/Kallice - Antagonist Saiza/Timothy Czevich, Teizu/Ruth Czevich, Sirzeiya/Jude Calvin, Ignaise/Nehemiah King, Metsuya